Saturday, June 4, 2011

Jumping Right In!

The cave made from pushing two tables together

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My morning accomplishemnt! I was on a ladder for most of my morning.

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Today was my first day at the office. Although I was at the office I did not stay physically in the office. My day was devoted to vacation Bible school decorating. Samantha, Pastor Steve, and myself were heading up the transformation of the basement Sunday school classrooms into different animal habitats. Our VBS theme is “One-of-a-kind-zoo”. I really like how Our Redeemer Lutheran Church utilizes and reuses props and items. One classroom boasts a parachute that covers the entire room which was used last year. The underwater room has murals that were hand painted by Samantha and used for the past two years. We also created an underwater cave by standing two tables on end and pushing them together.

The jungle room made by hanging a HUGE parachute from the ceiling and walls.

There are handmade birds hanging from the ceiling, and fish on the window. I was in charge of making a lamb from a piece of fluffy wool fabric which I was not allowed to cut. I used rubber bands to form the legs, face and body…it turned out very well if I may say so myself.

Putting rubber bands to form the feet.

My lamb...a little disfigured but I did it without cutting the square fabric. Creativity I think yes!

This is a congregation who really is living, and breathing. Everyone is so friendly and volunteers their time to make it all work. They do not need flashy electronics, or special ordered supplies to make a SPECTACULAR set up for VBS. It is one of the best I’ve seen and I have attended or helped with VBS every year since I was five!
Today in Chugiak, Alaska it was raining. I have yet to see the full beauty of the mountains that surround me due to cloud cover and rain but I have a whole year so I’m bound to see it sometime.

After work I ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some things for the house. I have never had such an awe-inspiring trip to Wal-Mart. It's nestled at the base of the mountains. Just look!

Since arriving in Alaska, I have been having a constant headache. It started yesterday when I arrived and I thought it was just motion sickness from the plane ride here. It did not go away and this morning was worse. Perhaps its fatigue, I have been faithfully taking Tylenol every four hours but no relief. My host mom first thought it was homesickness to which I replied “unless you can be homesick and not know it” (don’t get me wrong I love my family and friends but I am soooo excited to be here) after going over the symptoms she thinks its altitude sickness. While Anchorage is not that high of an altitude, nor is Chugiak it is higher than normal and my host home is way up on the side of a mountain that takes 6 switch backs at 15% grade to get to. Terri (my host mom) says that my body should adjust and it should go away in about five or so days so we shall see.

My Host Family: Chuck, Terri, and I.

Two of the three family pets

The third member of the family!

The light continues to mesmerize me. It is light, like really light, until close to 1:00am and then sun “sets” (notice quotations because it does not fully set) and then rises again at 6:00am. Here in Alaska we are still gaining daylight as the longest day is in July so that will be interesting. It’s a good thing I can sleep almost anywhere and that I can sleep. Pastor Steve suggested using tin foil to cover the windows, but it does not bother me too much. I can’t wait for tomorrow for installation Sunday and a time to finally meet the members of my congregation.

Picture of the moutain out my window, take and 11:15PM. It is still light out!

I have settled into my accommodations as everything seems to be finding a place to belong. My cupboards are getting full, clothes hung up, guitar all tuned and broken string replaced, it feels homey Perhaps Adam (my fiancé) and I will one day have a call to ministry in Alaska, I think I could handle that.